Lesson: The Liver Biology

Students will be able to

• describe the macroscopic structure of the liver including the associated blood vessels, the hepatic vein, the hepatic artery, and the hepatic portal vein,
• describe the microscopic structure of the hepatocyte cells of the liver,
• describe the role of the liver in breaking down harmful or excess metabolic waste products,
• outline the basic process of deamination as the removal of the amino group from amino acids,
• describe the ornithine cycle as the process of converting toxic ammonia to urea for excretion.